Six-year-old Sam only asks his Dad if he can stay up past his bedtime and never asks his Mom. Most likely, his Dad is ____ and Dad can be considered to be a ____.
A) more likely to say "yes"; discriminative stimuli
B) more likely to say "yes"; generalized stimuli
C) less likely to say "yes"; discriminative stimuli
D) less likely to say "yes"; generalized stimuli

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Sam has learned through experience that his Dad is more likely to say "yes" when asked to stay up past bedtime, so he discriminates between which parent to ask. Dad's response (saying "yes" or "no") is the discriminative stimulus that reinforces Sam's behavior of asking him instead of Mom. This is an example of discrimination learning in operant conditioning.

Six-Year-Old Sam Only Asks His Dad If He Can Stay